Amazing Race Tidbits
CBS' The Amazing Race 13th Edition
Following the progress of the teams, it appeared they started in the order they finished, presumably with the same time differentials, but just after sunrise, as they completed all tasks in one period of daylight, with light fading for the last two teams.
Teams had to find a Soviet-era submarine tied up to a pier at the Navy Museum in Severnoe Tushino Park in northwest Moscow. Then they had to board the sub and go into sonar room and locate a person who had played a role in the movie, "Hunt for Red October". Ken and Tina's driver was confused until Tina drew a submarine on a sheet of paper. She blurted, "I know my submarines", when the driver recognized it and figured out where to go. The first three teams started searching the sub about the same time, as the opening of the Navy Museum portion of the park served as an equalizer. When Dan and Andrew were on the way to the submarine, they also drew a sub for their driver. It turned out that person in the sonar room was dressed as the Soviet captain. He handed each team a clue directing them to a park that was the "graveyard for fallen statues" from the Soviet era.
Teaser Question: Who's good at solving mysteries? Literally!
From the website: One team member had to scour the park filled with Soviet era monuments counting the statues of Lenin, a total of 6, and Stalin, a total of 2. To help correctly identify each statue, they were given the Cyrillic spelling. After joining the two tallies together to create the number 62, they had to head to an antique bookstore and tell the number to the shop owner, who would give them a book. If they got the number wrong, they had to wait ten minutes before making another attempt. Then, using 62, the correct tally from the statues, they had to turn to page 62 in the book where they would find information that would lead them to their next destination, the apartment building of a famous Russian author, Mikhail Bulgakov.
Episode Ten Roadblock |
||
|---|---|---|
Team |
Member |
Result |
| Nick and Starr | Nick | He got the correct count right away! |
| Ken and Tina | Tina | She discussed the statue counts with Dallas, after both had struggled to get the right count. She pointed out to Dallas that he must have reversed the Stalins and the Lenins. She tricked Dallas into trying the incorrect guess of 63, used the negative result to confidently give the correct answer, now confirmed. Second to finish. |
| Toni and Dallas | Dallas | Toni passed this challenging brainiac Roadblock to Dallas figuring he was in college and realizing that she was out of gas, exhausted. Dallas did not know his Russian leaders. Even with the correct Cyrillic spellings given to him in the clue, he thought the Stalin statues were of Lenin, and vice versa. He did not get the counts right until Tina gave him the right answer. He lost time going from the bookstore to the apartment. Third to finish. |
| Andrew and Dan | Andrew | Last to start. Got correct answer the first time with "just a guess". |
On his return to Toni, Dallas made a huge blunder by leaving his Race bag on the floor of a taxi. That bag or fanny pack, black with the TAR striping, was much smaller than his huge backpack. Also, Toni said he should take his passport as well as all their money. Perhaps so, but it was critically important to keep the bag in his possession. Perhaps Toni and Dallas realized that their Race might be over. Dan overheard them, and just shook his head. On hearing the story from Dan, Andrew immediately realized that Team Dandrew was just saved. Toni and Dallas tried to figure out what to do next. They started begging for money to try to continue, in spite of the lost passport.
Ken was seriously mad at Tina for helping Dallas, but he had not heard the full story that Tina had actually mislead Dallas for an additional ten minutes and used his misfire to succeed in getting the correct result herself.
Teams were directed to travel by taxi to Sokol�niky Park, and find a lady with a Shetland pony, who would hand them their next clue. Only Toni and Dallas had a problem reaching the park. They had not taken a taxi there as required, so they had to go back to the end of the Roadblock, setting them back.
On reaching the lady with the pony, Andrew and Dan learned that they had to complete their Speed Bump task. From the website: They had to perform with a group of traditional Russian dancers through one song. Once they had completed the dance to the instructor�s satisfaction, she would hand them their next clue.
Dan and Andrew struggled the first time through the folk dance, but did so much better the second time through the routine. They used their brains to figure out that the lesser demanding role was the lady, well enough played by Dan. Andrew's band experience pulled him through for the tougher man's role in the folk dance.
Ride the Rails
From the website: Teams had to make their way on foot to the Sokol�niky Metro Station where they had to catch the metro to Ulitsa 1905 and find a marked snack shop to receive a traditional pastry known as a samsa. The wrapper of the samsa would direct them to another train to Kitay-Gorod Station in order to find the statue dedicated to the [men] who created the Cyrillic alphabet, [probably Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius] . A nearby babushka, in exchange for the pastry, would hand teams a postcard with the name and picture of their final location,
Moscow has one of the largest subway system in the world, called the Metro. Nick lives in New York, and rides its subway all the time. He was right at home on the Metro in Moscow. It looked so easy. All teams had to do was to spot the big red M to locate subway stations, use the easy ticketing system, and use the route map to figure their way, just like any transit system. Phil noted that due to the number of trains and their speed, mistakes could be overcome easily. Unfortunately, the three trailing teams failed to see this major advantage, and lost a lot of time.
Ride the Lines
From the website: Teams made their way on foot to a bus stop near Sokol�niky Park and hop on a trolley bus to a station called Krasndsel�skaya. Then, they had to find a key maker who would give them a storage locker key before hopping on another trolleybus to a station called Rizhskaya. When they arrived, they had to search the station for a locker that matched their key, open it, and also retrieve a postcard with the name and picture of their final destination, VNDKh Park Station.
Trolley busses were various colors, as were regular busses. There were also tramway cars. Yet another means of transport is a monorail line in northeast Moscow, according to the Moscow Info website. Also, at the end of the Detour, the closer trolley stop was on the other side of the monorail, partially obscuring the view of the area around the VDNKh Metro station, but not the station itself. The monorail overpass hid the top of the Space Monument, a prominent feature of the park in the provided postcard. One trolley route dropped off even further from the station. Also, according to Wikipedia, the park was renamed in the nineties to officially GAO VVC or just VVC, in English, All-Russia Exhibition Center. Worse, there is yet another Metro station just inside the park, so it came down to finding the correct one..
Episode Ten Detour |
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|---|---|---|
Members |
Option |
Notes |
| Nick and Starr | Ride the Rails | Finished first. Nick quipped that finally his New York subway experience was paying off. They benefited from exiting the Metro and going out from the circular vestibule to find the final cluebox, saying on the escalator "I bet it is up here". |
| Ken and Tina | Ride the Lines | They were confused as to which vehicles were the trolleys. Once they figured that out, they did OK until getting off near the VDNKh station. They were dropped off in what looked like a neighborhood near the park. They could not match what they saw with the provided picture even as they got closer as it was partially blocked by the monorail. Dan and Andrew passed them at the accidental sighting of the Pit Stop as they could not find clue box at end of Detour. Sent back by Phil, but still not finding the last cluebox, Ken said something about having cramps in both calves and not being able to run. Tina asked him to shake it out. Perhaps Ken was cramping because they searched all around the park looking for that cluebox. When Ken said that they were out of options, she said, "No, we're not, and they eventually found a fellow to point them in the right direction. She also was first to spot the cluebox they had been searching for. |
| Andrew and Dan | Ride the Lines | Smooth effort, everything went OK, found the last clue box with minimal delay. |
| Toni and Dallas | Ride the Lines | Because of lost money, they faded as they had to beg. They were very lucky to find one person that gave them taxi money to the Detour location. They did not complete the Detour before the other teams checked in. |
Early on, Tina almost said something about a stadium, as that might have been what the picture on the postcard suggested at first blush. Ken and Tina initially asked someone where the train station was on leaving the trolley, but that person did not know. They started away from the station and became confused, then went back into the park. Ken then failed to understand the clue, confusing the wording about the train station with the much larger park that the station served, while Tina insisted that they needed to find the station. That park is a very large exhibition center, accounting for much of the time they wasted. Also, they had the accidental sighting of the Pit Stop inside the park and had to hear Phil sending them back to find the end of the Detour.
The Pit Stop was not far from the designated station and clue box, inside VDNKh Park, dedicated to the history of the achievements of the socialist state. It appeared that the mat was behind the main entrance gate to the park, and in front of another Metro station. That main entrance was a grand gate built for Stalin, perhaps like the Brandenburg gate in Berlin, and not so much smaller, with an impressive socialist figure on top.
Episode Ten Order of Finish |
|
|---|---|
Members |
Place |
| Nick and Starr | 1 |
| Ken and Tina | 3 |
| Andrew and Dan | 2 |
| Toni and Dallas | 4 |
After Ken and Tina checked in, Phil went out to where Toni and Dallas were in the midst of the Detour to give them the bad news. Toni and Dallas believed they could have finished the detour and checked in perhaps a half hour behind Ken and Tina . Even if they had checked in as third, they could not complete application for a replacement passport in time to get to the Finish Line. Besides, the first three teams had already checked in. Third, it was getting dark, and the last thing a traveler needs to do is be on the streets of a major foreign city without a passport, according to the Moscow Info website.
The preview is quite interesting, with the action shifting to the American Northwest. The revived team of Dan and Andrew may be poised for a truly big upset of the established front running teams of Nick and Starr and Ken and Tina. How many teams have said they would trade all their wins in legs of the Race for just winning the Final? Team Dandrew seem to have figured out how to work the Race and get through tasks. Their late arrival as a contender is not unlike a football team getting their offense adjusted to being able get into scoring position in the latter stages of a game. Plus, the travel side has been their strength. They do have the element of momentum. Still, Nick and Starr are formidable, having won so many legs, and Ken and Tina are capable of winning on a day that is favorable for them.
Watch the Final Episode on December 7th, at 8:00 PM Eastern/Pacific, unless delayed by NFL football.
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